Ashley, 82, pioneered a number of electronic and experimental approaches to musical composition, especially in opera. Each performance of "Lectures to Be Sung" draws from a pool of vocal pieces from Ashley's operas. Milwaukee native Tom Hamilton, Ashley's frequent collaborator, will assist him with the performance. | Nov. 6, 2012»Read Full Article

Jettisoning the franchise's optimistic, socially aware sci-fi, not to mention character development or a logical plot, "Darkness" - opening in IMAX theaters Wednesday and everywhere Thursday - turns out to be any Vulcan's worst nightmare: "Team America: World Police" with Tribbles. | May 14, 2013»Read Full Article(10)

By the textbook definition, a chamber orchestra is a small orchestra of about 25 players.

But that doesn't cover a chamber orchestra's breadth of repertoire, from baroque to modern pieces, nor the kind of nuanced playing and ensemble communication that Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond and a number of his MSO colleagues brought to chamber orchestra repertoire for Monday evening's Frankly Music program. | May 14, 2013»Read Full Article

Sometimes, a custom has to be on the verge of vanishing to be properly reconsidered, celebrated and carried on. Such is the case for skilled sign painting, the exacting and finicky craft of hand lettering on a bakery storefront window, the gold-leaf bank banner, a GAP ad or a simple sign offering cows for sale on a farm.

Such signs age artfully, becoming faded and elegant ghosts of their former selves, reminding us of a time when more things were made by hand, not only the men’s suits or the wood cabinets advertised, but the signs themselves. Their cheaper, technology-driven vinyl counterparts, on the other hand, shrink, rip and crack. | May 14, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(1)

When Rosemarie Niles opened a frozen yogurt shop with her husband in DeLand, Fla., last year, she soon discovered the tapas place across the street and the wine bar next door. Now she's combining the concept of both in Vinamo, a wine bar and small-plates restaurant at 402 E. Silver Spring Drive in Whitefish Bay.

The big thing on tap today is the return of pop punk band Fall Out Boy, featuring Milwaukee-based drummer Andy Hurley. It's kicking off its comeback tour at Eagles Ballroom (and we'll have a review on Tap Milwaukee late Tuesday)--but that show was sold out within 15 minutes of going on sale.

So if you didn't get a ticket, you can take solace with another Boy in town--Germany-based, Feist-y indie pop duo BOY. Lead single "Little Numbers" led to sold out shows in eight different U.S. cities for the band's first stateside tour this spring. Here in Milwaukee, however, the show has been downgraded from a lower level Pabst Theater show to a Pabst Pub gig at 8 p.m. But what you'll lose in seats you're going to gain in intimacy. And like Fall Out Boy, this one is likely to sell out, so best grab a ticket early. Unless you want to be a Bummed Out Boy (or Girl). | May 14, 2013»Read Full Blog Post